Lowell, Massachusetts

Eleventh Assignment: Lowell, MA
Dates: July 22nd, 2008- October,
Addresss: 104 River Pointe Way
Unit #2106
Lawrence, MA 01843
Hospital: Lowell General Hospital

I got a position in Lowell, MA towards the end of the assignment in Bakersfield, CA. I was so excited to be finally getting within 30 miles of Boston! My dad flew out to Las Vegas and I picked him up for our cross country trip #2. It was 106 degrees on the World's Largest Thermometer in Baker, CA. We stayed in Monte Carlo. I won $450 at Bellagio!! I always knew I liked that place! After Vegas we drove through the Utah mountains towards Colorado. We went through the Colorado Rockies, which were very steep! My car did not like that very much! We stopped in Vail and looked around. It looked like a Swiss Village. A few of the mountains still had a little snow on the top even in July. Then we headed through the midwest. We saw the original Pony Express Station, the site of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Notre Dame. We also took a small detour and stopped at Niagara Falls. Very large waterfalls and very impressive! We finally made it to New England and spent the night in Bennington, VT, which is a very cute town. Especially the statues of people in various states of daily life...reading the newspaper, shopping, and kids eating ice cream. Then we finally made it to Massachusetts. We checked in to the hotel in Lawrence across the street from my apartments. The next day we went to Boston! We walked around and saw Cheers, Public Garden, Boston Common, Quincy Market, Boston Harbor, MIT, and Harvard to name a few. Later that day we picked up Mama at the Airport in Manchester. While both of my parents were there we explored as much of New England as we could! We went to Salem, Marblehead, Boston in Massachusetts; Portland, Kennebunkport, York in Maine; and other places in New Hampshire and Vermont as well. Then it was time for me to start at Lowell General and time for them to head back to Georgia.

The hospital was fine and pretty busy, especially since the hospital down the street stopped delivering babies and so we got them! The nurses were all very nice and we had a lot of fun working. I met some nurses to keep in touch with, especially Loum, Lin, and Danielle.

While I was in Lawrence I explored more of New England. I went to Newport and Providence, RI. Newport was gorgeous, especially the Cliff Walk and Mansions. One the way to Rhode Island I happened to go by Patriot's Place and on the way back I stopped at the outlets in Wrentham, MA. I also went to Hampton Beach and Portsmouth, New Hampshire and did some shopping in Kittery, Maine and saw the Nubble Light in York, ME. I went up to Burlington, VT and toured the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and the Ben and Jerry's Factory. I also did more shopping in Nashua and the outlets about Concord, New Hampshire. I was also explored Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. All beautiful places! Of course, I went to Boston every chance I got!

I also went on a Cruise to Canada on the Royal Caribbean with Aunt Nell. It was a gorgeous and large ship. We never ran out of things to do. We played Putt Putt and Ping Pong everyday. I got facial and massage and Aunt Nell got her hair cut in the Salon. We also spent a lot of time in the Casino. Shocking! We enjoyed all the shows we attended and even went backstage for a tour. We ended up on the highlights video, they got us while we were at the Newlywed Game Show! Embarrassing!! Our first port was Portland, Maine. It was raining the whole time we were there because of Tropical Storm Kyle! Although, that didn't stop us from going on our shopping tour in Freeport, Maine at the outlets! We had planned to go on a Duck Tour but it got rescheduled and conflicted with our shopping tour! Our second port was Bar Harbor, Maine. We took a tour of Acadia National Park. It was nice, especially Thunder Hole and Cadillac Mountain. We did some shopping on main street. Our whale watching tour was canceled due to rough seas. Very sad to have missed that! Our third port was St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. We did two tours of the city and saw all the sites. St. Jon was very pretty. We did a River Boat cruise down the St. John River and I was the “Captain” for a very short time! Our fourth and final port was Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. We went on a Tall Ship Experience, which was awesome! We actually put up the sails and were really sailing by the wind! It was so much fun! Halifax reminded me of San Diego Harbor and also of Boston, they have a public garden also! We also took a duck tour of Halifax and saw more of the sites. We had two days just at sea. We ate at the formal dining room three times but mostly ate at the cafe, which was buffet style. Good food! After we got back to Boston we headed down to Foxwoods, MGM Grand, and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut to do some more gambling!

Almost at the end of the assignment I got my dream job in Boston!! Finally after 3 and a half years of trying to get there I finally made it! I took a week off between assignments and went home for a few days and then to Alabama to see Brandie. I was able to go to her baby shower for Anessa! I can't wait to meet her! She is very active! She kept kicking me! Poor Brandie! I miss hanging out with Brandie and Ray! I will have to go back soon after Anessa is born! On November 1st I moved to BOSTON!!! I had left my car full of my stuff at Lin's house and she took me to the airport and also picked me up from the airport in my car! So nice of her!!